Junior welterweight Giovani Santillan (21-0, 11 KOs) remained unbeaten during Friday’s “Path to Glory” main event from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calf. The steely southpaw from San Diego thoroughly outpointed Mexico’s Omar Tienda (18-4, 11 KOs) through 8-rounds, sweeping all scorecards 80-72.
“At times, he was difficult to hit because he bent down at the waist,” said Santillan, one of Thompson Boxing’s most promising prospects. “In the end it didn’t matter because I found angles on him every round and he never really frustrated me.”
Santillan relied on his jab to control the tempo and later worked in the pocket to land power shots that consistently slowed down Tienda.
“I was able to do what I wanted,” Santillan said. “It was a solid win.”
In the 8-round co-feature, Santa Ana’s Erick Ituarte (16-1-1, 2 KOs) extended his win streak to nine with a dominating performance against Naciff Martinez (17-10-2, 5 KOs) of Mexico. Scores: 80-72 twice, 79-73.
Top featherweight prospect Ruben Villa (4-0, 2 KOs) of Salinas, Calif. used all four rounds to pick apart Francisco Camacho (2-7-1, 1 KO) of Mexico to earn a unanimous decision win 40-36, all around.
“Camacho had an awkward style,” said Villa, who has back-to-back national golden gloves championships on his resume. “I had to chase him around the ring, but that wasn’t anything that I hadn’t seen before. I got my shots in every round and dominated the decision win.”
Junior lightweight prospect Michael Dutchover (3-0, 3 KOs) continues to live up to his high profile billing. The Midland, Texas native delivered a devastating left hook that spelled lights out for Jose Mora (0-3) of Tijuana, Mexico. The first round stoppage win came at the 2:07 mark.
“I was sitting on my punches well and when I saw an opening, I went for it,” said Michael Dutchover, who is promoted by Thompson Boxing and Banner Promotions. “I caught him flush with the left hook and that was it. I’m glad I was able to finish it early.”
Los Angeles native Rudy Garcia (5-0, 1 KO) handed David Martino (2-1, 2 KOs) of Mexico his first professional defeat by outpointing him in the their 4-round match up (40-36 x3). Garcia, a bantamweight, mixed his punches well and covered up nicely whenever Martino tried to counter or challenge him.
Newly signed Francisco Armenta (3-0) of Sinaloa, Mexico used his superior talent to consistently frustrate Cody Peterson (1-2) of Kansas City, MI. Armenta, who begins his professional career in the junior welterweight division, won with scores 39-37 and 40-36, twice.
